Toronto Maple Leafs Hypothetical Trade: Freddie Andersen to Chicago

From one Original Six team to another, the Toronto Maple Leafs could hypothetically be looking to deal Freddie Andersen to Chicago.

The biggest storyline for the Toronto Maple Leafs is whether Freddie Andersen stays or goes. I’m sure he would love to stay one more season and take another crack at a Stanley Cup in Toronto, but that’s unfortunately not his decision.

In my opinion, Andersen is good enough to win you a Stanley Cup. If you compare ‘Steady Freddie’ to previous Stanley Cup winning goaltenders, he stacks up well in career averages. The only difference is that his team has yet to score goals when he gets hot.

I find it crazy that people are chirping him after the five games he had against Columbus. I know he blew the three-goal lead in Game 3, but the defensive-core was brutal in front of him and the team still should have won four of the five games played.

He allowed two or less goals in three of the five games and the Leafs somehow only won one of those games. If the Leafs get a little extra scoring support, Andersen wins that series and who knows what happens. The Leafs could very well still be playing hockey right now and we wouldn’t be talking about hypothetically trading him to Chicago.

The Leafs would be looked at as geniuses that they have a number-one goaltender who only makes $5 million per season. Instead, now that he’s yet to win a playoff series with the Leafs, the whole world wants to trade him.

Depending on what the return is, I’m OK with seeing Andersen leave, since re-signing him will probably cost too much money, but at the same time I’d like to him to stay. Just play Jack Campbell a little more next season so Andersen can rest and be sharp for the playoffs.

Regardless, I’d like to thank Editor in Leaf’s Shaun Filippelli for inspiring this edition of the “Hypothetical Trade of the Day.”

Leafs Land Right-Handed Defenseman For Andersen

The trade:

• Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Adam Boqvist ($894K), 2021 1st Round Pick
• Chicago Blackhawks acquire: Freddie Andersen ($5M)

At first, I thought about including Brent Seabrook in this deal, but it just doesn’t work. At $6.875M for the next four seasons, the right-handed defenseman isn’t worth the risk. He’s way past his prime and there’s no way he will live up to his contract again. He’s also one of the worst players in the NHL right now.

The Blackhawks need goaltending help because they currently have zero net-minders signed for next season. Corey Crawford is a UFA and could return on a short-term deal, while RFA Malcolm Subban doesn’t look set to become a starter yet. As a result, Chicago needs a starting goaltender if they want to compete for another Stanley Cup in their short window left with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

The Toronto Maple Leafs need a right-handed defenseman and could use one on an Entry Level Contract, so Adam Boqvist answers both of those requests. Boqvist is a 20-year-old defenseman from Sweden and the former eighth-overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. As a high draft pick, there’s a ton of potential with Boqvist but in order to upgrade their goaltending, the Blackhawks may look to trade one of their best young assets in return.

With plenty of goalies to choose from in Free Agency this off-season, the Leafs may look to move on from Andersen and find a net-minder elsewhere. This trade could help solve their cap-crunch, while acquiring a young gifted defenseman.